Editorial: Chronic autoimmune arthritis, infections and vaccines

The link between autoimmunity and infection continues to represent an intriguing immunologic conundrum for scientist and a frequent clinical challenge for patients and physicians. Patients with chronic autoimmune arthritis indeed have an increased risk of infections, mainly due to the dysregulation of their immune system and the use of immunosuppressive therapy. Infections in these patients are more frequent, have a more severe clinical course, eventually with prolonged viral persistence, compared to the general population and represent a frequent cause of death. Besides, infections can trigger autoimmune diseases via different immunologic mechanisms such as molecular mimicry, epitope spreading, by-stander activation and can also induce disease relapses. SARS-CoV-2 infection represents a dramatic example of this complex connection. It is known, indeed, that different autoimmune manifestations can complicate SARS-CoV-2 infection such as uncontrolled host-immune response leading to life-threatening condition known as cytokine release syndrome, or autoimmune hemolytic anemia, immune thrombocytopenic purpura, Guillain-Barre syndrome, and the detection of different autoantibodies. This Research Topic includes seventeen contributions, fifteen original articles and two review articles, providing several new insights into the efficacy and safety of SARS-CoV-2 vaccine in autoimmune patients, immunologic biomarkers for diagnosis and therapeutic outcome of autoimmune arthritis

CO2 Concentration in Day Care Centres is Related to Wheezing in Attending Children

Poor ventilation at day care centres (DCCs) was already reported, although its effects on attending children are not clear. This study aimed to evaluate the association between wheezing in children and indoor CO2 (a ventilation surrogate marker) in DCC and to identify behaviours and building characteristics potentially related to CO2. In phase I, 45 DCCs from Lisbon and Oporto (Portugal) were selected through a proportional stratified random sampling. In phase II, 3 months later, 19 DCCs were further reassessed after cluster analysis for the greatest difference comparison. In both phases, children’s respiratory health was assessed by ISAAC-derived questionnaires. Indoor CO2 concentrations and building characteristics of the DCC were evaluated in both phases, using complementary methods. Mixed effect models were used to analyze the data. In phase I, which included 3,186 children (mean age 3.1±1.5 years), indoor CO2 concentration in the DCC rooms was associated with reported wheezing in the past 12months (27.5 %) (adjusted odds ratio (OR) for each increase of 200 ppm 1.04, 95 % CI 1:01 to 1:07). In phase II, the association in the subsample of 1,196 children seen in 19 out of the initial 45 DCCs was not significant (adjusted OR 1.02, 95 % CI 0.96 to 1.08). Indoor CO2 concentration was inversely associated with the practices of opening Windows and internal doors and with higher wind velocity. A positive trend was observed between CO2 and prevalence of reported asthma (4.7 %). Conclusion: Improved ventilation is needed to achieve a healthier indoor environment in DCC

Measurement of triple gauge-boson couplings at 172 GeV

The triple gauge-boson couplings, Awp, Aw and Abp, have been measured using 34 semileptonically and 54 hadronically decaying WW candidate events. The events were selected in the data recorded during 1996 with the ALEPH detector at 172 GeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 10.65 pb^-1. The triple gauge-boson couplings have been measured using optimal observables constructed from kinematic information of WW events. The results are in agreement with the Standard Model expectation

A922 Sequential measurement of 1 hour creatinine clearance (1-CRCL) in critically ill patients at risk of acute kidney injury (AKI)

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Geomicrobiology of the built environment

Microbial colonization and growth can have significant effects in the built environment, resulting in a range of effects from discolouration and staining to biodeterioration and decay. In some cases, formation of biofilms, crusts and patinas may confer bioprotection of the substrate. This perspective aims to discuss how geomicrobial transformations in the natural environment - particularly involving rocks, minerals, metals and organic matter - may be applied to understand similar processes occurring on fabricated human structures. However, the built environment may offer further strictures as well as benefits for microbial activity and these should be taken into consideration when considering analogy with natural processes, especially when linking observations of microbial biodiversity to the more obvious manifestations of microbial attack

Sloan Digital Sky Survey IV: Mapping the Milky Way, Nearby Galaxies, and the Distant Universe

We describe the Sloan Digital Sky Survey IV (SDSS-IV), a project encompassing three major spectroscopic programs. The Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment 2 (APOGEE-2) is observing hundreds of thousands of Milky Way stars at high resolution and high signal-to-noise ratios in the near-infrared. The Mapping Nearby Galaxies at Apache Point Observatory (MaNGA) survey is obtaining spatially resolved spectroscopy for thousands of nearby galaxies (median $z\sim 0.03$). The extended Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (eBOSS) is mapping the galaxy, quasar, and neutral gas distributions between $z\sim 0.6$ and 3.5 to constrain cosmology using baryon acoustic oscillations, redshift space distortions, and the shape of the power spectrum. Within eBOSS, we are conducting two major subprograms: the SPectroscopic IDentification of eROSITA Sources (SPIDERS), investigating X-ray AGNs and galaxies in X-ray clusters, and the Time Domain Spectroscopic Survey (TDSS), obtaining spectra of variable sources. All programs use the 2.5 m Sloan Foundation Telescope at the Apache Point Observatory; observations there began in Summer 2014. APOGEE-2 also operates a second near-infrared spectrograph at the 2.5 m du Pont Telescope at Las Campanas Observatory, with observations beginning in early 2017. Observations at both facilities are scheduled to continue through 2020. In keeping with previous SDSS policy, SDSS-IV provides regularly scheduled public data releases; the first one, Data Release 13, was made available in 2016 July

Measurement of the W mass by direct reconstruction in e+e−e^+ e^- collisions at 172 GeV

The mass of the W boson is obtained from reconstructed invariant mass distributions in W-pair events. The sample of W pairs is selected from 10.65~pb$^{-1}$ collected with the ALEPH detector at a mean centre-of-mass energy of 172.09 \GEV. The invariant mass distribution of simulated events are fitted to the experimental distributions and the following W masses are obtained: $WW \to q\overline{q}q\overline{q } m_W = 81.30 +- 0.47(stat.) +- 0.11(syst.) GeV/c^2$, $WW \to l\nu q\overline{q}(l=e,\mu) m_W = 80.54 +- 0.47(stat.) +- 0.11(syst.) GeV/c^2$, $WW \to \tau\nu q\overline{q} m_W = 79.56 +- 1.08(stat.) +- 0.23(syst.) GeV/C62$. The statistical errors are the expected errors for Monte Carlo samples of the same integrated luminosity as the data. The combination of these measurements gives: $m_W = 80.80 +- 0.11(syst.) +- 0.03(LEP energy) GeV/^2$

Sloan Digital Sky Survey IV: Mapping the Milky Way, Nearby Galaxies, and the Distant Universe

We describe the Sloan Digital Sky Survey IV (SDSS-IV), a project encompassing three major spectroscopic programs. The Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment 2 (APOGEE-2) is observing hundreds of thousands of Milky Way stars at high resolution and high signal-to-noise ratios in the near-infrared. The Mapping Nearby Galaxies at Apache Point Observatory (MaNGA) survey is obtaining spatially resolved spectroscopy for thousands of nearby galaxies (median $z\sim 0.03$). The extended Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (eBOSS) is mapping the galaxy, quasar, and neutral gas distributions between $z\sim 0.6$ and 3.5 to constrain cosmology using baryon acoustic oscillations, redshift space distortions, and the shape of the power spectrum. Within eBOSS, we are conducting two major subprograms: the SPectroscopic IDentification of eROSITA Sources (SPIDERS), investigating X-ray AGNs and galaxies in X-ray clusters, and the Time Domain Spectroscopic Survey (TDSS), obtaining spectra of variable sources. All programs use the 2.5 m Sloan Foundation Telescope at the Apache Point Observatory; observations there began in Summer 2014. APOGEE-2 also operates a second near-infrared spectrograph at the 2.5 m du Pont Telescope at Las Campanas Observatory, with observations beginning in early 2017. Observations at both facilities are scheduled to continue through 2020. In keeping with previous SDSS policy, SDSS-IV provides regularly scheduled public data releases; the first one, Data Release 13, was made available in 2016 July

Effect of indoor air quality of day care centers in children with different predisposition for asthma

BACKGROUND:Scarce information is available about the relationships between indoor air quality (IAQ) at day care centers (DCC), the estimated predisposition for asthma, and the actual wheezing susceptibility. METHODS:In the Phase II of ENVIRH study, 19 DCC were recruited after cluster analysis. Children were evaluated firstly using the ISAAC questionnaire and later by a follow-up questionnaire about recent wheezing. A positive asthma predictive index (API) was considered as predisposition for asthma. Every DCC was audited for IAQ and monitored for chemical and biologic contaminants. RESULTS:We included 1191 children, with a median age of 43 (P25 -P75 : 25-58) months. Considering the overall sample, in the first questionnaire, associations were found between CO2 concentration (increments of 200 ppm) and diagnosis of asthma (OR: 1.10; 95% CI: 1.00-1.20). Each increment of 100 μg/m(3) of total volatile organic compounds (TVOC) and 1 μg of Der p1/g of dust were associated with wheezing in the previous 12 months (OR: 1.06; 95% CI: 1.01-1.11 and OR: 1.06; 95% CI: 0.99-1.12, respectively). In the follow-up questionnaire, TVOC were again associated with wheezing (OR: 1.05; 95% CI: 1.00-1.11). Children exposed to fungal concentration above the 75th percentile had also higher odds of wheezing at follow-up. TVOC were associated with wheezing in children with either negative or positive API. CONCLUSIONS:IAQ in DCC seems to be associated with wheezing, in children with and without predisposition for asthma